Wanting the Golden Woman
by AllINoIsImNotAwesome
Summary: Even after leaving Amestris with the Philosopher's Stone, Ling still felt incomplete. He was an emperor who would soon have fifty wives and several more concubines, but he just wanted Edlyn Elric to love him. Fem!Ed


A greedy man stood staring at a full-body mirror. Although the man should have been feeling complete, he wasn't. He definitely wanted to be draped in silk robes and golden jewelry, with dozens of servants scurrying about in preparation for his so-called 'big day', but he still couldn't understand why he didn't get _everything_ he yearned for.

What could a prince want any more than to be crowned emperor? To protect his people, and propagate a legacy? This man had yearned for these things and will never let them go. Even though the prince obtained these things, why was he still trying to obtain something so trivial?

He wanted the love of a woman. Though not any woman would do. _This_ woman was a golden woman. She had fiery eyes that had the ability to burn or warm him with a single look. Long, beautiful golden hair fell into her eyes, framing her strong, yet delicate features. The strength in her body was equal to the strength in her heart. She was perfect.

In no time the soon-to-be-emperor would have his own harem with _fifty_ women. They'd all be his and he wouldn't have to worry about them leaving or losing feelings for him. Not that the women would even have feelings for him in the first place. They might even hate him, but they would only be there to bear his children. He would not break from tradition, the young man would take all fifty of them, in fact, he _wanted_ all fifty of them, but he still wanted love.

Her love for him was not confirmed, but he knew she cared. He also knew that she had a man waiting for her back in her hometown. The woman the emperor wanted was far away from him and was being pursued by another, but he could do nothing about it. The greedy man could not leave his throne. He had to choose between one woman or millions of his subjects. Of course he chose the latter, but he still longed for her all the same.

If only he could act on his feelings. Maybe she'd come to him and confess that she longed for him in the same way.

"It is time, My Lord," his female bodyguard, Lan Fan, voiced behind him. She slightly raised her head to look at the man and noticed his far-off expression. "My Lord?" she then took off her mask to speak to him face-to-face. "A-are you...okay?"

"I am just fine, Lan Fan," he answered, and even though his tone was neutral, his expression gave it all away. "Let's just get this over with."

* * *

The emperor was left disappointed when the long day was over. After his coronation, and a feast that he did not enjoy because of the ceaseless political jabbering of advisers that he had just met that day, he was left alone in his new, grand bedroom, tired.

"I had hoped she'd at least be in the crowds," he muttered. He knew that he had gotten his hopes up for nothing, because the girl he fell for had much more important priorities than to go to a far off country to watch his coronation.

After all she was a hero, and he had witnessed her in her glory, fighting an immortal monster to protect her country, all the while fighting to atone for her horrible sins.

After all that was over she still had her own duties, just as he, the Emperor of Xing, had his, and they'd both work to fulfill them no matter what. Nothing could get in between their goals, yet everything was in between _them._ He just hoped that someday soon, a bridge could form between the gap between them and their relationship, and unite him with his beloved.

* * *

A maid genuflected at the month-long emperors feet. She asked him in a meek voice, "Your Greatness, a woman by the name of Edlyn Elric requests to converse with you over the telephone."

He felt a great deal of shock, but refused to let the emotion surface in his expression. He replied, "Hand me the phone, then leave."

"Yes, Sir," the maid meekly complied and scurried out of the room.

He lifted the telephone to his ear and greeted her with a sprightly tone, despite the nervousness that overtook his being. "Hello, Edlyn." Despite how foreign her name felt to his lips, he still loved the way it sounded.

He felt a type of happiness ripple quietly inside his chest at the thought of speaking to her after all this time, and it quickly formed into a large wave at the sound of her voice, "What's up, Ling?" She said.

The emperor smiled at the colloquial tone in her voice. It had been a long time since he could engage in casual conversation with someone.

"Sorry I didn't get to call sooner," She said. "I've been busy with Al. He's been getting a lot better..." She paused. He didn't reply, for he suspected that she was going to follow-up that statement. She did, saying, "But that isn't why I called you."

He grinned enthusiastically at the awkward tone in her voice. He certainly hoped she called for a confession. "What is it?" he inquired confidently.

"See I've been calling a bunch of people who've supported me all these years as a State Alchemist and I know this seems a bit out of place considering we met a little over a year ago under strange circumstances but I really wanna thank you." She said this rather quickly.

He was taken aback. "Why?" he asked rather stupidly. He did absolutely nothing to help her reach his goal. She did a lot more for him in his opinion. After all, if it wasn't for her knowledge of immortality, he wouldn't be the Emperor of Xing.

"What do you mean 'why', idiot?" she said fondly. "I'm thanking you for your support. You are one of the people who helped keep me going. Remember when Al sacrificed himself for me? You were more than willing to give up the Philosopher's Stone in order to get him back. You knew that if I were to use it, you might not have been able to have gotten it back. Coming to Amestris from across the desert, losing Lan Fan's arm, becoming Greed, Fu's death-it would have all been in vain, and you would have gladly sacrificed it all for _me._ Of all the people that I've called, you are the most special because you care enough to sacrifice yourself for _me._ I don't know what the hell would possess you to do something like that, and I find it a bit weird, but thank you. Thank you so much."

He didn't reply for some time, mostly because he couldn't. He just stood there reflecting on what this woman said to him. It just made his affections for her grow stronger, and he longed to tell her about them. He wanted to tell her about the affections that 'possessed' him to be willing to sacrifice everything for her sake. "Love is sacrifice," is what he wanted to yell into the receiver, but instead he opted for, "Thank you, too."

It was her turn to ask stupidly, "Why?"

You_ taught me the true meaning of sacrifice, so I guess it was right for me to choose you as the person I'd give it all for,_ he thought, but he didn't answer out loud. He refused to express his love for her over the phone, and didn't know if he ever would be able to in person, though.

"Ling?" she asked, breaking the silence.

_Now it's time for teasing._ He grinned. With all of the sentimental talk over with, it was getting a bit uncomfortable. "You say that you're grateful, Ed," he mocked playfully. "But it doesn't seem like you're on the next train to Xing to _express_ your gratitude, if you know what I mean."

"What do you take me for you idiot prince?" she asked rhetorically.

"Oh, Ed! Why are you so angry? Hurry and come to Xing so I can embrace the pain away!" He exclaimed. What he said wasn't really that far from the truth, but he'd let her think that he wanted to hug her just for the hell of it.

"There's no way I'm coming to that country, dumbass! If an idiot like you is ruling over that place, I bet it's like a living hell!" she retorted.

"Well, maybe if you became my empress, then you could help me rule over it." he requested-also something that the man wanted, but as always, he'd let her believe that it was nothing but empty flirting.

"Oh, shut the hell up, Ling," she commanded in mild annoyance. "I'm done telling you what I wanted so bye-"

"Ed!"

"What now?"

"I...kinda miss you." An understatement.

"Yeah, whatever, Ling," she replied quietly. "I can't talk anymore. Got stuff to do, so I'm hanging up now."

"Bye."

_Click_-she hung up first.

As the emperor hung up the telephone, he sighed a sigh of partial contentment. Although the message he received from her wasn't what he expected, he was happy with the amount of care she seemed to have for him. It would have to do, though he was anticipating the day when she'd come to his homeland. Wooing her would prove to be strenuous, but worth it because he'd no longer spend so much time on wooing the golden woman he so much desired.

**A/N: I tried something a bit different with the narrative style of this fic, only writing the Ling and Ed's names in dialogue. Let me know if you like it. I thought it made it dramatic and despite having this fic half written in my documents since October of last year, I had always planned to do it that way.**

**I really started writing this fic out of impulse, and then I just stopped because I didn't know where to go with it, so I just began writing more fics. While writing chapter 8 of TWV, it hit me. Even though this fic can be considered stand-alone, it kinda gives insight into Lings sudden romantic advances towards Edlyn in Trouble With Vacations. **

**I've always wondered what Ed told all of the people he called to thank after he got Al's body back. If Ling was one of them, I wanted to know what he would've said, and I kind of interpreted that scene in Brotherhood where Ling wanted to give Ed the stone in this sort of way. But don't worry, I'm pretty sure Ling wasn't thinking _love is sacrifice_ in the show, I just had to romanticize it that way! **

**Please review and tell me what you think!**


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